City Prepares For HST
Residents should be aware that the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which combines the 5 per cent federal GST and the 8 per cent Provincial Sales Tax (PST), comes into effect on July 1.
As a corporation doing business in Ontario, the City is required to implement the federal/provincial HST, and is in the process of reviewing its revenues, expenses and information systems to develop plans to comply with the new tax changes.
The HST is not expected to impact the before-tax cost of user-fees, or the City's overall budget, as municipalities will be given a 78 per cent rebate on the provincial portion of the HST and 100 per cent rebate on the federal portion of the HST. However, residents should know that, similar to the current GST and PST, the HST is applied to fees charged for services, meaning the end user may see additional cost as a result of the tax for some City of Kingston goods and services.
